On September 16th, 2019 we had a cool and interesting conversation with Michael Young.

Michael Young is an architect and an educator practicing in New York City where he is a founding partner of the architecture and urban design practice Young & Ayata. Michael is an Assistant Professor at The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union. He is the recipient of the 2019-20 Rome Prize from the American Academy of Rome. Formerly, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Princeton University and Visiting Lecturer at SCI-Arc.In the Fall of 2016 he was the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor at Yale University. Michael received his Masters of Architecture from Princeton University and his Bachelor of Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Michael is a Registered Architect in the State of New York..

Young & Ayata formed a partnership in New York in 2008 to explore the conceptual and aesthetic possibilities of architecture and urbanism. The practice is dedicated to both built commissions and experimental research. The practice views the reality of contemporary building as a provocation for architectural form, material and technology. In following these trajectories it is necessary to understand architecture in its historical processes. Both principals teach and view the educational experience as crucial to the continual development of architectural ideas.

In this episode, Michael and I talk about how important it is for design schools to primarily teach design, because all the projects talk about the real world, even if sometimes we believe that schools don’t teach us enough. We talk about his experience as a student, and how he believes that waiting 2-4 years before going to graduate school is the most beneficial decision. He talks about how his teaching experience has given him the ability to continue learning, year after year, from his students, and how he applies that knowledge into his firm Young & Ayata. We talk a little bit about exactly when he realized that he wanted to create his own studio and why it was so important for him to have a work partner, whom he could trust in order to build something together.

Questions:

What was your experience like as a student?

When did you think it was time to develop your office? When did you believe it was the right time?
What is the relationship you have with your work partner Kutan Ayata? Where do you guys agree and where do you guys differ?
What would you tell to any student or recent graduate that is trying to start up a studio with a partner? What characteristics does the perfect work partner have that they should look for?
Based on your office’s philosophy, do you believe that architecture schools should be more geared towards design concepts and abstraction of ideas or more about building and the “real world”?
You’ve been a professor for a long time in different universities, what has your experience been like?
When did you decide you also wanted to teach and not only practice? Why did you take that decision?
What do you believe a good and successful architecture professor teaches his or her students?
Is there something you do not agree with the educational system?
What are your plans for the future?